By McKibben Jackinsky

The Homer Mariner co-op hockey team was on home ice Tuesday, playing the Kenai Kardinals at the Kevin Bell Arena. The fast-paced game ended in a 2-1 win for the Kards, with the Mariners outshooting the Kardinals 29-17.

The first period wrapped up with neither team able to make it onto the board. The action picked up in the second period, with Kenai scoring in less than two minutes. Homer’s Ulian Kuzmin, assisted by Clem Tillion, answered in short order.

Editor's note: This story has been changed to reflect that Chris Story is not running for Homer City Council, but has not decided if he will be a candidate for mayor.

Candidate filing for the Oct. 7 municipal election, both the city of Homer and the Kenai Peninsula Borough, opens Aug. 1 and continues through Aug. 15. Names already are rising to the surface of who will and who will not run, with a fair amount of rumors added to the mix.

By McKibben JackinskyStaff writerWith work already begun on a new harbormaster office, the future of the existing one is uncertain. (See related story, page 1.)“If you want my two cents, this building needs to be removed and we should create parking in this area… until a higher and better use comes along,” said Harbormaster Bryan Hawkins.Carey Meyer, the city’s public works director, is of a similar mind.“Maybe the old site can be — and this is a decision for the city council and others — used for additional parking,” said Meyer.

What do you get for being first across the finish line of the Fireweed 400, a grueling bicycle race that begins and ends at Sheep Mountain and has Valdez as the turn-around point? “For participating you get a shirt and a water bottle and a few free goodies from the race sponsors. For winning you get a sore butt and applause from your crew and everybody around you,” said Martin Renner, 43, of Homer.

When a high school graduating class has a total of three students, an impressive ranking is guaranteed. That was a point Ninilchik teacher Bryan Hickey made for Ninilchik graduates Robert Delgado, Jessica Rogers and Matthew Thorne during Hickey’s May 21 high school commencement address.“Coming from a small school, college years can be daunting, but I expect you will stay in the top third of your class wherever you go,” said Hickey, drawing a laugh from the graduates and the gathering of family, friends and community members in the school gym.

My mother was an ace athlete. She was strong, fast and could think quickly on her feet. She was fiercely competitive and played shortstop on a women’s softball team when women’s softball was a novelty.By the time I came along, Mom’s competitive softball playing days were over. I saw the photos and heard the stories. Bigger-than-life stories. The kind that left me feeling intimidated right down to the bottom of my non-competitive, unathletic feet.The day it was announced my sixth-grade class was going to begin playing softball during PE, I went home in tears.

The Mariner boys track and field team pushed into second place at borough championships in Kenai on Saturday, tying with Skyview and with Kenai Central in first place.“The boys did awesome,” said Mariner Head Coach Bill Steyer. “They collectively ran from the heart and ran extremely well. They’ve been improving all year and pulled it all together.”The Homer girls claimed third place, with Soldotna in first and Kenai Central in second. Steyer took advantage of the meet to focus on his training strategy.

It was a 12-0, four inning victory for the Homer High School Mariners softball team in a May 7 game against SoHi.“I’m really pleased they were hitting all the way through the lineup,” said Head Coach Bill Bell.That gave the Mariners two Northern Lights Conference wins last week after beating the Kenai Kardinals 17-0 on May 5. The team had a challenging start to the season, with 13 losses in games against some of the state’s biggest and strongest teams, but that was all part of Bell’s game plan.

If you thought basketball season was over, you haven’t been watching the NBA playoffs. Or you weren’t at the Homer High School gym on Saturday to see Special Olympics basketball teams from Homer and the Central Peninsula play the game with lots of heart and fierce competitive spirit.The final score was 42-31, Homer’s favor.

Yes, the shorebirds showed up. So did lots of visitors for the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. And there was plenty of sunshine.Small wonder, then, that more than 170 runners signed up for the 17th annual Migration Run, a USATF-certified 5k event that begins near the Fishing Hole and ends at the base of the Spit.

Having already built his own computer because “it was a really fun thing to do,” Homer High School junior Thomas Vanek was looking for an avenue to pursue his interest in computers. That opportunity arrived last semester.

Homer High School’s track is home to track and field action this Friday and Saturday with 11 schools participating in the Homer Invite.In addition to watching some top athletes perform, the public also has an opportunity to assist with the event, according to Head Coach Bill Steyer.“It takes a lot of people,” he said of help needed.On Friday, field events begin at 1 p.m. and running events at 2 p.m.On Saturday, field events begin at 10 a.m. and running events at noon.

Reeling in a 30.60-pound king salmon, Raymond B. Tepp of Kenai is the first-place winner in the 2014 Homer Winter King Salmon Tournament held Saturday. Fishing aboard his own boat, the Inlet Plunder, Tepp’s cash prize is $19,026.

A total 202 fish were caught by the 907 anglers participating in the one-day event that began with hooks in the water at 9 a.m. and ended with hooks out of the water by 4 p.m. This was the 21st Winter King Salmon Tournament sponsored by the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center.

Back on the road after claiming first place in the three-day Christmas Round Robin at Big Lake last weekend, the Homer Mariners hockey team found the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears to be doing anything but hibernating.

Playing at Juneau’s Treadwell Arena, the Crimson Bears claimed a 4-1 victory over the Mariners on Friday.

Lack of snow for training early in the season hasn’t slowed down Homer Mariner cross country skiers Brian Rowe and Aspen Daigle. In the Candy Cane Scramble Dec. 19, with skiers from Kenai Central, Skyview, Soldotna and Homer competing, Rowe took first in the boys competition and Daigle took first in the girls race.

“(Daigle) and (Rowe) are very hard-workers and super fit,” said Homer Head Coach Eric Groth. “They skied great, smart races.”

On the heels of a fourth-place finish at the Mixed 6 state championship games earlier this month, the Nikolaevsk Warriors are jumping into basketball action with both feet. At the Cook Inlet Classic, held at Cook Inlet Academy in Soldotna, Dec. 19-21, the girls team took first place.

They squeaked by the Cook Inlet Academy Eagles on Thursday with a 27-26 win. They continued their march toward victory Friday, with a 51-7 win over the Ninilchik Wolverines. Saturday, the Warriors secured the championship by defeating Yakutat 31-22.